Gold Location

[Millz90]

Hey guys. Wanted to get your opinion on this creek I have been look my around in.

It seems that everywhere I look there is gold, not a lot by any means but 5 or so very small flakes in a full 14" test pan. The creek is about 10' wide so it's really small and not deep at all. Bedrock exposed in a lot of places.


The problem/question I have is, it seems that if I pan the top foot I find gold but if I pan down deeper I don't get anything? Has anyone ever experienced this? Does that mean that the gold is freshly peaches down the creek?

Should I keep going up the creek or down creek?

Just wondering what your thoughts were on this.

 

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[goldog]

You're finding gold. Stay there and get you some. not to overstate the obvious but exposed shallow bedrock the gold will be shallow.

 

[mikep691]

It's also possible for older, larger gold to settle in deep pockets in the bedrock. Might look for washboard type bedrock (nooks and crannies) that is under water, and use a sucker tube type (hand dredge) tool to get the material out of and off the bedrock.

 

[Underburden]

Shallow, exposed bedrock? Heaven.
I've worked bedrock that had a drag line go over it many decades ago, leaving big slabs of bedrock broken and exposed. Under the top slab is really good gold but the more bedrock I broke apart under the top slab, the less gold I'd find. After pulling three layers down, no more gold. Don't ignore those tiny ¼" cracks in the bedrock either.
Got to agree with Goldog and Mikep691, don't go hunting for better ground when your standing on gold laden bedrock!!!

 

[Lanny in AB]

If it's fine gold, it may only be in the top part of the dirt. Flood gold moves and gets redeposited when the flow is high enough, and if the gold is small enough, it won't work its way down.

I'd test in the cracks of the exposed bedrock on an inside bend to see if there's any coarser material trapped in it; as well, if there's only a foot of material over the bedrock and all you're finding is fine gold, that may be all there is.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[arizau]

Millz90
Here is one of your questions: "Should I keep going up the creek or down creek?" Others have said stay where you are and offered a few other suggestions. I don't disagree with them but to answer your question about up or down stream (I'm assuming you are just prospecting now), go up. Take some time out and do some test panning upstream/ not just a few yards but maybe closer to a mile or so. Don't forget to check the drainages that feed your creek. If it doesn't get better then just get to mining where you know it is.

Whatever you do, good luck.

 

[et1955]

Your finds are a flood deposit, so many things to consider on determining the source, is it coming from up creek or is it an old flood deposit in the banks being washed out by a flood, have you check for gold in the banks yet ?

 

[russau]

And whether you go up or down stream DO YOURSELF a FAVOR and carefully record what you find down on paper so you can go back to those parameters and see "if" it may have come down from a certain location or (like it has been said) if it truly is flood gold. and keep this to yourself or youll be shoulder to shoulder to the crowd! Good Luck on your adventure!

 

[mikep691]

All gold is heavy, and has to come from somewhere. It's pretty hard for gold to travel uphill and against the flow, so as a prospector, I'd search upstream in intervals, and write down your findings as you go. If the gold gets better (or stays the same), keep going until it goes away. Then start looking at the sides of the creek valley. Source gold erodes and travels to the lowest point over 1000's of years. If you can get historical data, that can help to identify changes in geology over time as well. For example, the Sierra Nevada Range at one time in Earth's past was in a valley. Volcanic activity and tectonic plate shifts raised the mountain range to what it is today. Evidence of ancient rivers can be found several hundred feet below the range (E.G. Ruby Mine). Knowing where fault lines run in the area is beneficial as well. If you can find a fault line that intersects your creek, you can increase the possibility of locating a source of the gold. None of this is easy and is time consuming. But as they say, if finding gold was easy, everybody would be doing it.

 

[Millz90]

You're finding gold. Stay there and get you some. not to overstate the obvious but exposed shallow bedrock the gold will be shallow.

Def understood but even in places where its not shallow, if I pan the top foot I get flakes but then go down say another foot into the older material there is nothing or very very little. Its only like if I would just dredge or pan the top foot of this creek I would get better gold then going all the way down to bedrock.

But yes I am finding gold but VERY little. Not enough to brag about lol

 

[Millz90]

It's also possible for older, larger gold to settle in deep pockets in the bedrock. Might look for washboard type bedrock (nooks and crannies) that is under water, and use a sucker tube type (hand dredge) tool to get the material out of and off the bedrock.

Yeah I have dredged the bedrock and found gold for sure. Its just weird to me that the since the gold should settle it doesn't seem to be or have done that.

 

[Millz90]

Millz90
Here is one of your questions: "Should I keep going up the creek or down creek?" Others have said stay where you are and offered a few other suggestions. I don't disagree with them but to answer your question about up or down stream (I'm assuming you are just prospecting now), go up. Take some time out and do some test panning upstream/ not just a few yards but maybe closer to a mile or so. Don't forget to check the drainages that feed your creek. If it doesn't get better then just get to mining where you know it is.

Whatever you do, good luck.

Gotcha I will do that. Thanks for the info. I have went up the creek about 50 yards so far and it seems to get worse but I will try farther and see what happens.

 

[Hunt4gold]

Millz - Sounds like an interesting puzzle. Fun stuff... All the suggestions above are great -- I really awesome how much people on this forum share their knowledge.
Here in south Denver, I've been mapping small creeks, 5-12ft across, so I believe I am working on creeks similar to your creek. Here are a few concepts I have gathered from working these creeks - hope they will help you.
In these creeks, the source of the gold is ancient alluvial deposits from the Castle Rock Conglomerate formation. The formation is not important for you, but what we have found is that the gold is not very far away from where this formation is exposed in the banks of the creek - 100-200 yards downstream from the outcrop area. Below that there is still gold, but it is small (seldom bigger than +30 or so), in less quantity, and it is mostly found on inside bends point bars – just like the flood gold others talked about. The better gold (1/8" flakes to -30 sizes - and smaller) is deposited closer to the source, its just not traveling very far before it drops out on an inside bend or wider area of the creek. Even though the creek gets some strong high water flooding after spring storms, the water velocity is just not enough and is short in duration, so the larger gold does not seem to transport very far.
Regarding bedrock - In areas where there is bedrock in the stream (shallow - 0" to 3-5" down), we typically find small amounts of -30 size gold - again flood gold. The bedrock is too shallow and scours off in floods. In areas close to the gold source where there is 1-3 foot of good size rocks/gravel (golfball size to 1' and bigger, often on inside bends above and below water line) sitting on bedrock, we will find gold all the way down to bedrock and within the first few inches of bedrock - always take the first few inches of bedrock. Sometimes, I followed the shallow bedrock downstream and found where it drops deeper below the stream bed (one spot the bedrock was about 2" deep and then dropped down to about 2ft down. Right at this break in relief I found good gold.
IMPORTANT: The type of rock making up the bedrock comes into play here. The bedrock along these creeks is typically a shaly sandstone, so it eroded surface is relatively smooth, sometimes forming small, rounded bottom pockets or smooth, rounded bottom cuts in the stream bed. If your bedrock is similar, then the gold deposits in the creek may be similar to here. IF the bedrock is granite or similar, harder rock with fractures, then it will capture more gold in the cracks. As Mike and others discussed above, learn about the geology of the area. There should be geologic maps of the area.
So take a hike upstream, sampling as you go on inside bends, keeping an eye on the banks and sampling them also (especially if you see rounded cobble in banks) - see if you can find the source. Look for deeper gravel/larger rock deposits on the bedrock.
Hope this gives you so ideas - keep posting (start a Journal in that posting section) and let us know how your research goes.

 

[Millz90]

Millz - Sounds like an interesting puzzle. Fun stuff... All the suggestions above are great -- I really awesome how much people on this forum share their knowledge.
Here in south Denver, I've been mapping small creeks, 5-12ft across, so I believe I am working on creeks similar to your creek. Here are a few concepts I have gathered from working these creeks - hope they will help you.
In these creeks, the source of the gold is ancient alluvial deposits from the Castle Rock Conglomerate formation. The formation is not important for you, but what we have found is that the gold is not very far away from where this formation is exposed in the banks of the creek - 100-200 yards downstream from the outcrop area. Below that there is still gold, but it is small (seldom bigger than +30 or so), in less quantity, and it is mostly found on inside bends point bars – just like the flood gold others talked about. The better gold (1/8" flakes to -30 sizes - and smaller) is deposited closer to the source, its just not traveling very far before it drops out on an inside bend or wider area of the creek. Even though the creek gets some strong high water flooding after spring storms, the water velocity is just not enough and is short in duration, so the larger gold does not seem to transport very far.
Regarding bedrock - In areas where there is bedrock in the stream (shallow - 0" to 3-5" down), we typically find small amounts of -30 size gold - again flood gold. The bedrock is too shallow and scours off in floods. In areas close to the gold source where there is 1-3 foot of good size rocks/gravel (golfball size to 1' and bigger, often on inside bends above and below water line) sitting on bedrock, we will find gold all the way down to bedrock and within the first few inches of bedrock - always take the first few inches of bedrock. Sometimes, I followed the shallow bedrock downstream and found where it drops deeper below the stream bed (one spot the bedrock was about 2" deep and then dropped down to about 2ft down. Right at this break in relief I found good gold.
IMPORTANT: The type of rock making up the bedrock comes into play here. The bedrock along these creeks is typically a shaly sandstone, so it eroded surface is relatively smooth, sometimes forming small, rounded bottom pockets or smooth, rounded bottom cuts in the stream bed. If your bedrock is similar, then the gold deposits in the creek may be similar to here. IF the bedrock is granite or similar, harder rock with fractures, then it will capture more gold in the cracks. As Mike and others discussed above, learn about the geology of the area. There should be geologic maps of the area.
So take a hike upstream, sampling as you go on inside bends, keeping an eye on the banks and sampling them also (especially if you see rounded cobble in banks) - see if you can find the source. Look for deeper gravel/larger rock deposits on the bedrock.
Hope this gives you so ideas - keep posting (start a Journal in that posting section) and let us know how your research goes.

Amazing information!

Thanks for your help! I am going to try to get out this weekend and do a little more prospecting and try out ALL suggestions so far.

 

[Kenmitch]

Probably should scout downstream also. Might be a nice catch basin area. See if you can find the stream on Google earth. Probably will give you a better picture of the stream than on foot. Maybe at least a quicker way to find promising spots.

 

[Lanny in AB]

I worked a spot on a river once where I was getting fine gold above a small stream that cut the river and there were large boulders jammed in the creek mouth where it hit the river. Below the creek mouth along the river bank there was coarser gold, but then only fine gold farther down. So, I went back to the feeder stream and really hit all of the material hard in the boulder nest where that little creek came in. It was lots of hard work. However, I got some nuggets, nothing over a gram and a half, but lots of nice pickers to boot. I worked my way up the small stream with good results for a bit but then found out someone else had dredged just above the confluence down to the bedrock which was only about three and a half feet down; the bedrock was clean. I punched more test holes going up stream with the same result.

There was only that one little hot spot of concentrated gold left where all of those boulders were jammed, and to me those boulders served a two-fold purpose: they slowed the main stream flow at high water to generate a low-pressure zone to catch and concentrate anything that came down that inside bend, and they slowed and trapped any disturbed gold flying down the feeder creek at high water. Moreover, there were lots of rounded pieces of ironstone (magnetite) the size of the end of my fingers that I'd found initially when I started my test panning, and when there's ironstone that big in concentration in my stomping grounds, the streams have definitely been moving the heavies, and the boulders were definitely doing the job of creating the ideal drop zone.

All the best, and I hope you find what you're looking for; you've been given a lot of good advice to date from some kind and generous people,

Lanny

 

[Millz90]

Probably should scout downstream also. Might be a nice catch basin area. See if you can find the stream on Google earth. Probably will give you a better picture of the stream than on foot. Maybe at least a quicker way to find promising spots.

Yeah def have done this. Thanks for the idea though!

 

[Millz90]

I worked a spot on a river once where I was getting fine gold above a small stream that cut the river and there were large boulders jammed in the creek mouth where it hit the river. Below the creek mouth along the river bank there was coarser gold, but then only fine gold farther down. So, I went back to the feeder stream and really hit all of the material hard in the boulder nest where that little creek came in. It was lots of hard work. However, I got some nuggets, nothing over a gram and a half, but lots of nice pickers to boot. I worked my way up the small stream with good results for a bit but then found out someone else had dredged just above the confluence down to the bedrock which was only about three and a half feet down; the bedrock was clean. I punched more test holes going up stream with the same result.

There was only that one little hot spot of concentrated gold left where all of those boulders were jammed, and to me those boulders served a two-fold purpose: they slowed the main stream flow at high water to generate a low-pressure zone to catch and concentrate anything that came down that inside bend, and they slowed and trapped any disturbed gold flying down the feeder creek at high water. Moreover, there were lots of rounded pieces of ironstone (magnetite) the size of the end of my fingers that I'd found initially when I started my test panning, and when there's ironstone that big in concentration in my stomping grounds, the streams have definitely been moving the heavies, and the boulders were definitely doing the job of creating the ideal drop zone.

All the best, and I hope you find what you're looking for; you've been given a lot of good advice to date from some kind and generous people,

Lanny

Thanks! And yes I have been giving great advice. I think there are a few Larger boulders in the middle of the creek down stream and also up stream on a straight track though not on a bend. I looked around that area with, again, little pieces....still nothing big really. But I haven't went any farther up the creek than that and it sounds like that's what I need to do for sure.

 

[Millz90]

And whether you go up or down stream DO YOURSELF a FAVOR and carefully record what you find down on paper so you can go back to those parameters and see "if" it may have come down from a certain location or (like it has been said) if it truly is flood gold. and keep this to yourself or youll be shoulder to shoulder to the crowd! Good Luck on your adventure!

So a couple people have said to record what I find. What exactly should I record other than the location I found gold?

Like how many pieces to shovels of dirt? Can't really think of anything else.

 

[mikep691]

Location is key. Might help to have a map of the creek. Record the location and how much you find. Each location can tell a tale to you, about where the possible source could be. As you prospect upstream, if the gold getts more plentiful, keep going. When the sampling stops, start looking uphill instead of upstream. If there are smaller feeder creeks and the gold stops after one, then follow the feeder in the same manner.